The human body is a complex, miraculous work of engineering—the product of thousands of years of evolution, culminating in such wonders as opposable thumbs and the capacity for rational thought. But bodies are also gross. They get smelly; they ooze salt water when they get too warm; and as Adam Scott can attest, they can occasionally sabotage you socially in front of Reese Witherspoon.
You see, fellow body-havers, Scott was recently betrayed by his corporeal form—when he was standing right beside his Oscar-winning costar. While filming Big Little Lies season two, Witherspoon made Scott laugh on set—and his nose decided to eject a giant snot rocket. The errant booger refused to go quietly into that good night, instead somehow wrapping itself around Scott’s nose, like a germ-powered spacecraft orbiting the moon. Looking back on the moment during a visit to Conan Wednesday night, the actor admitted the incident has haunted him for months.
“I just excused myself and found—a makeup person got a Kleenex and wiped it off,” Scott told his host. “I came back and thought, Should I reference what just happened to Reese?…Should I make a joke about it or just apologize for the disgusting thing that just happened? And I didn't.”
For six months—six months—Scott said he tortured himself over that one moment, wondering if there was any way to recover. “Until the show premiered, I was like, Should I text her and make a joke about the snot?” Scott recalled. “And I never did.”
At this point, Conan O’Brien pointed out, way too much time has passed to bring up the Snot Fiasco—leaving Scott only one option. “The only thing you can do now,” the comedian said, “is maybe on your death bed, summon Reese to your side and go, ‘The snot! The snot! I’m sorry!’ and then die.”
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